The quick answer
A winding up petition can mean that your business will go bankrupt or into liquidation if you do nothing. You can stop a winding up by:
- Paying the debt off.
- Applying to the Court to stop it for a good reason.
- Asking the Court for an adjournment.
- Applying for an Administration order.
One tip – once a winding up petition is advertised in the London Gazette – and it has to be before the Court hearing – your bank account will be frozen.
In more detail
Firstly, I should clarify the question is mixed in that “winding up” applies to limited companies and partnerships whilst the phrase “going bankrupt” applies to individuals.
A winding up petition will lead to your business being wound up and forced into liquidation unless you do something about it. Your choices are:
- Pay the debt off if you have the money and it is correct what they claim is owed. Do this as soon as possible. Get the petitioning creditor to confirm in writing that they have been paid and get them and their solicitor to confirm the winding up process has stopped and been withdrawn.
- Tell the petitioner that you disagree with the claim and if they will not back down then apply to the Court to stop the winding up.
- Offer to pay the debt off by instalments if the petitioner agrees.
- Put your company into Administration to stop it being wound up.
If you have the funds it is always worth getting a suitably experienced solicitor to help you to do the above or contact a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner like us.
